Southeast Pennsylvania 4-H Extension educators identified a need for professional development in order to further develop current urban 4-H programs. The expectation was that increased awareness and knowledge would lead to increased skills competency in planning, implementing, and evaluating urban 4-H youth development programs. An interstate…

This article shares a first-hand account of an action research project conducted in a college-level early adolescent development course to better understand written and verbal reflection as learning tools, improve the author's teaching effectiveness, and foster reflective habits in pre-service teachers. The article includes a brief overview of…

This article uses an auto-ethnographic approach to explore the reflections and insights that occurred during my teaching of a subject in adolescent development on the Thai Burma border. This paper adopts a relatively descriptive style to a personal reflection of teaching on the border and how it transformed the way I teach and made me look at the…

The hit movie saga "Twilight" has made an impact on viewers of all ages. This article seeks to explore the uses of film in psychology classes with a focus on ways in which instructors may find scenes from the "Twilight" series helpful and engaging for students. The authors describe scenes and themes from the first three movies…

Identity development in the learning sphere is an important identity-defining issue for Japanese adolescents during the transition from high school to university. The present study reports a preliminary feasibility evaluation of an intervention program designed to facilitate identity formation in the learning sphere. 179 Japanese university…

For 16 years, a university teacher educator has been teaching a course on adolescent development using novels, memoirs, and case studies instead of the customary college textbook. Novels have included such award-winning works as Angelou's (1969) "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings", Wolff's (1989) "This Boy's Life: A Memoir", Salinger's (1979)…

While the genre of "testimonio" has deep roots in oral cultures and in Latin American human rights struggles, the publication and subsequent adoption of "This Bridge Called My Back" and, more recently, "Telling to Live: Latina Feminist Testimonios" by Chicanas and Latinas, have demonstrated the power of "testimonio" as a genre that exposes…

"Educational Theories, Cultures and Learning" focuses on how education is understood in different cultures, the theories and related assumptions we make about learners and students and how we think about them, and how we can understand the principle actors in education--learners and teachers. Within this volume, internationally renowned…

Two studies were conducted in multisection introductory child and adolescent development classes to determine effects of introducing abbreviated teaching case studies that were then discussed either in face-to-face or online formats. Students receiving teaching case studies in either format in both classes showed improved ability to critically…

This is the second of two reports commissioned by the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) intended to address the dire need for teacher preparation policy and programs to reflect recent advances in scientific knowledge of child and adolescent development. In the first report, "Principles and Exemplars for…

In this article, Linda Chisholm discusses the potential of ee-learning to address some of the endemic problems of college campuses. In an era of large campuses and large classes, students are removed from the positive examples once provided by faculty who lived in the campus community. The result is as evident in the woeful skills of some college…